Meet Erik

Erik Swanson, P.E., is the new Somerville Engineering Department Manager at DCI. Erik joined DCI in July 2017, and is based in the Somerville office. He lives in Salem, Mass., and has two daughters, ages 17 and 14. Among his career stops was a seven-year stint running a sole proprietorship.

Here is a little bit more about Erik, the engineer, the DCI employee and the person.

Why did you become an engineer?“I wanted to build houses. In high school, I had a shop class and one of the assignments was to build a model of a house out of balsa wood. I knew I was going to college and I didn’t see myself swinging a hammer my whole life, so the best way to be involved in designing and building houses seemed to be engineering. It just grew from there.”

Where did you attend college?“I graduated from Northeastern University, but also attended Merrimack College.”

Favorite book?“’Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life’ by Jon Kabat-Zinn.”

Favorite movie?“The Blues Brothers.”

Favorite Band“Foo Fighters.”

Most Memorable Project“Beacon Street in Brookline because it was a such a complex project with so many different facets to it. It wasn’t just a straightforward civil project. For example, we had to take into consideration signalization of an at-grade crossing for the Green Line trolley. There were many different pieces of the puzzle.”

Why DCI? “One of the things I like best about DCI is that we do projects that are similar to Beacon Street in Brookline. They’re multi-dimensional and complex, a lot of times in an urban setting, with many different challenges and aspects rolled into a single project.”